Iran says it has responded to Trump’s nuclear talks letter
Iran has sent a response to a letter from US President Donald Trump that called for nuclear talks and warned...Geostrategy
Israel PM threatens to seize parts of Gaza over fate of hostages
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Wednesday to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas did not release hostages, while the militant...Geostrategy
More than 50 killed in Syria attack blamed on Islamic State
In one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the IS this year, some 53 people were killed on Friday...Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the attack, which it said was carried out by jihadists on motorcycles who opened fire on the truffle hunters
The UN has said that despite setbacks, the jihadist group has "maintained its ability to launch attacks at a steady pace"
Blast wounds four US troops in Syria, IS leader killed, says military
WASHINGTON, US - An explosion wounded four American military personnel during a raid that killed a senior Islamic State (IS) group...US leads an international coalition battling IS and conducts periodic raids and strikes targeting the group.
The US troops and the dog are being treated at an American medical facility in Iraq.
Tunisian footballer reaches Italy on migrant boat, says club
TUNIS, TUNISIA - A goalkeeper at a top-flight Tunisian football club has reached Italy as a clandestine migrant, his club said...Tunisia is struggling with a grinding economic crisis that has seen a growing wave of clandestine migration attempts in recent months.
Rome says over 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, reached Italy from Tunisia last year.
Building safety in focus as deadly quake renews alarm for Istanbul
Seismologists warn that a massive earthquake is likely to strike Turkey's biggest city -- officially home to 16 million people...Independent urban scholar Murat Guney said carnage can be avoided if the government has the political will to relocate people from shoddy buildings filling the city's shanty towns.
Guney said Istanbul had around 1,166,000 residential buildings but 70 percent of these constructed before 1999 quake when no quake inspections were conducted.
Syria’s Assad thanks ‘Arab brothers’ for quake aid
The 7.8-magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, leaving a combined death toll of nearly 40,000 people. Since...Some 120 planes laden with assistance have landed in the Syrian airports, about half of them from the United Arab Emirates
At least 3,600 Syrians died in the quake, which came nearly 12 years into the country's civil war - that has devastated swathes of the country
BBC tax raids put India press freedom in spotlight
Just weeks after the BBC aired a documentary examining Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role in deadly 2002 sectarian riots,...India has fallen 10 spots to 150th on the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, since Modi took office in 2014.
Criminal complaints were issued against a record 67 journalists in 2020, the latest year for which figures are available, the local civil society group reported.
All hands on deck as UN meets to protect high seas
Another two weeks of negotiations ended with no agreement in August last year, but advocates and officials have expressed cautious...After more than 15 years of talks, the meeting is the third time in less than a year that negotiators are gathering for what is due to be the last round
Ocean ecosystems produce half the planet's oxygen and limit global warming by absorbing a large part of the CO2 emitted by human activities
Quality finance crucial to deal with climate change
"We cannot neglect any element of the climate crisis, including its clear implications for international peace and security,” he adds....Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General and Special Representative of COP28, calls for catalyzing greater and higher quality climate finance for fragile and vulnerable communities
The UAE will host COP28 in Dubai from 30th November to December 12, which will include the first Global Stocktake to assess progress toward implementation of the Paris Agreement
White House says ‘deeply dismayed’ by Israeli settlements plans
The White House said Thursday it is "deeply dismayed" by Israeli plans for a major expansion of settlements in occupied...The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would demand Israel immediately cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory
The 15-member council is likely to vote on Monday on the text, drafted by the United Arab Emirates in coordination with the Palestinians, diplomats told Reuters
UN appeals for $1 billion in aid for Turkey quake victims
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that the funds would provide humanitarian relief for three months to 5.2...Turkey's people have experienced "unspeakable heartache," the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said in a separate statement announcing the flash appeal.
Some 47,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged across Turkey, with thousands of people having sought refuge in temporary shelters.
